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Concept
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Explanation of Susan Sontag on Diane Arbus
Reflecting on the photograph A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, 1868 by Diane Arbus in relation to the ideals that Susan Sontag communicates within photography with relevance to humanities, I found particular connections and similarities between the concepts and the items portrayed. Arbus discovers and reveals a side of society that is mundane, commonplace and somewhat controversial and showcases it. It is a very different way of seeing. Sontag ideas on photography in general are much like the work of Arbus
There is evidence of the moral and aesthetic issues raised by the image and what it is saying. Susan Sontag states that “most people in this society have the idea that to take a picture is to say, among other things: ‘this is worth photographing.’” The photograph gives us a glimpse into these people’s lives. The “shock value” is another aspect to be considered, the intrigue of the image. This is an image that is very relatable: sitting in a lawn chair one hot afternoon. Sontag states “ They (people) refer back to the images in order to have a direct experience of the reality because they have been prepared, in some very dissociated way, by the images and not by the real experience.” A photograph is the proof that something truly took place, that it ‘really exists.’
When first looking at the image it appears to be an average suburban middle-class American family. As the viewer dives deeper into the underlying meaning of the image and the statements that it posses, such as the nature and relationship between the people within the photograph certain aspects emerge. Looking at is the aesthetics of the photograph, such as the lawn taking up two-thirds of the space having a relating factor to a sense of emptiness, and disconnection between the family members. The tress poses a looming presence. There is a literal positioning that gives way to the compelling idea of an emotional inner space. The parents and separated and alone, the man is tense and he holds his hands tight. The mother seems to be relaxed but there is a feeling of discuss in her face. The boy plays alone and is turned away. The photograph suggests a condition, which is underlined in the positioning within and of the family.
A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, 1868 by Diane ArbusDiscussion Paper
Informative
A Four-year-old Girl and Her Paint Set
She is a normal lively, energetic, and fascinating 4-year old. However, the art world perceives her as a child prodigy, a master painter on a par with Picasso. Her name is Marla Olmstead a young girl from Binghamton, N.Y., who has gotten a lot of publicity because at her age she is producing abstract paintings that are selling for hundreds and thousands of dollars, are placed in gallery shows, generate a firestorm in the art community, and are the subject of controversy. The documentary My Kid Could Paint That about Marla and her paintings is highly entertaining and it raises interesting questions about media exploitation, the value of art, and its authenticity. Just about every parent of a young child has a priceless collection of their masterpieces; treasured drawings and paintings taped to a closet door, stuck to the refrigerator with magnets or rolled up in a box somewhere in the basement. The value of these artifacts is personal and sentimental, but they can also have an aesthetic power that goes beyond parental pride. On the other hand in the case of young Marla her parents Mark and Laura as well as art critics, gallery owners, and the media have taken that pride farther than what is normal.
Some of the opening imagery in the documentary shows Marla sitting on the kitchen floor in her diaper with a paintbrush in hand, paint tubes spread around and a blank canvas below. This adorable girl who seems to be like any other young inquisitive, precocious child is having an enjoyable time painting touches the viewer’s heart. We watch in awe as she pours paint from the tubes and smears the paint with a brush. As we see Marla painting in her diaper or in her jumper the director of the video appeals to our emotions by showing Marla, in my opinion just like any other young child painting. I think this was a very effective way to appeal to us to show the viewer that Marla is just like any other 4-year-old painting a picture. Other instances where the video appeals to our emotions and where you can see Marla as a regular girl and not this “prodigy” that she is being presented as is when her father asks her if she wants to paint, Marla says “no.” However, Marla’s dad pushes her to paint. The viewer can see that she just does not want to paint; she is a young child that has no interest in it at the time. The documentary does a very good job at calling to attention the emotional appeals of Marla as just a young child.
Are the painting of Marla’s “real” art, that there is a sense of composition and creation and not just the work of a girl who likes to paint putting down colors where she wants, making movements with the brush how she wants? When speaking of ethics (ethos) who is one to decide if these works are to be displayed along with modernists such as Jackson Pollock and Franz Marc? Is it up to the art critics who criticize art in the context of aesthetics or beauty? Art critics know art they have studied what it is about and how it is created. However, in the case of Marla, is she not just a little girl that enjoys painting? Marla’s parents describe her work and how it all started. So in a sense they are the ones who have the ethics to determine if Marla is a true artist. I believe it is up to the people who know art well, who have studied it and who also know Marla and how she paints to determine such things. Others may have varied views about Marla’s creations but ultimately it is up to the ones who know art and Marla.
The film also discusses numbers whether it is in the number of painting she has done, sold or in the price that her paintings are sold for. Marla’s paintings are selling for anything between seven and fifteen thousand dollars, prices at which “real” art is sold. At one gallery in particular Marla had a sell out show and she already has seventy more painting lined up to do for interested buyers. It maybe that numbers should be taken into consideration when determining if something is art.
If one were to look at Marla’s paintings and not know she was a four-year-old girl they probably would think that her work is on a par of Picasso and other artist. The untaught sense of color and composition that Marla seems to possess sometimes gives extraordinary results. Except that these magical finger-paint daubings and crayon scribblings are not really works of art in any consistent sense of the term, but rather the consequence of play, the blissfully unaware sentiment from a little girl named Marla from Binghamton, N.Y.
Analysis of Film
Informative
A Fine Line Between Improving and Altering
Photo manipulation is the process of editing techniques to photographs for the purpose of enhancing or modifying. This could be a mere correction or to the point of even deceiving the viewer. Digital manipulation is becoming increasingly common. It has been impacted by cultural influence, and ethical concerns beyond the technical process and skills involved (Michels). Photo manipulation can be anything from subtle alterations such as color balance or contrast or it may involve overlaying a head onto a different body, size alteration and changing the features on a person.
Today, photo manipulation is widely accepted as an art form. With digital processing, there is almost no limit to what can be done to an image, and many things are done to images with the best intentions. It may be necessary to do slight retouches such as color balance and lighting alterations. Some changes merely improve a photo’s quality or fit the photo into the space available. However, some changes go beyond mere technical requirements and reflect editorial positions. When it works its way into photojournalism and the media, the issue of ethics comes to the forefront. How far can we take digital image manipulation and still maintain photographic integrity? Where is the line crossed between improving and altering?
The growing popularity of image manipulation has raised concern. In Susan Sontag’s book "On Photography,” she discusses the objectivity, or lack thereof, in photography, concluding that "photographs, which fiddle with the scale of the world, themselves get reduced, blown up, cropped, retouched, doctored and tricked out" (Sontag 4). A practice widely used in the magazine industry is the use of Photoshop for photographic manipulation. This process creates a reality that is constructed from an already subjective photograph and it can become difficult to differentiate fact from fiction (Scanlon 7).
As photo manipulation develops this means changes to photographic truth and reality. The question now becomes can we believe what we see? The manipulation of photographs “has come to permeate our visual world” (Exposed). We no longer question the perfection of magazine cover girls who have been artificially gifted with sparkling eyes, flawless skin, shrunk waistlines, elongated legs and an enlarged bust. Newspaper pictures offer color tones that transcend anything in nature and fine detail that no conventional process can convey. Advertising has created a virtual reality world.
Some changes go beyond mere technical requirements and reflect editorial positions (Llewelyn 16). Changes to a photo raise the issue of an author’s moral rights. The author in this paper’s case refers to that of a magazine, editorial, advertising company etc… Manipulating a photo may affect an author’s right to the integrity of the work but those moral rights have important limitations. The author’s right to the “integrity of a work is infringed only if the work is, to the prejudice of the reputation” of the author, distorted, mutilated or otherwise modified photos (Llewelyn 17). Not all changes to a photo are bad because the changes do not prejudice the author’s honor or reputation. Any step taken in good faith to restore a photo by filling in scratches, fixing brightness and contrast or compensating for fading would likely not attract any liability. The changes that alter or distort a photo put an “infringement on the liability qualifying as a potential breach of moral rights” (Llewelyn 17).
The overall question that we come to is what is considered altered and what is improved? I found that in general improving allows for brightness and contrast control, burning and dodging to control tonal range, color correction, cropping a frame to fit the layout as well as retouching of dust and scratches (Llewelyn 15). On the other hand corrections such as adding, moving, or removing objects within the frame, color change other than to restore what the subject looked like, size modification of subjects, cropping a frame in order to alter its meaning crosses the line into alterations (Llewelyn 15).
With the potential to alter body image, debate continues as to whether manipulated images, particularly those in magazines, contribute to self-esteem issues in both men and women. In 2006 Dove promoted a video for its Campaign for Real Beauty, the video title Evolution was to promote Dove’s Self-Esteem Fund. The film opens with a woman entering and sitting down in a studio. Two harsh lights are switched on, and the music starts. The camera then switches to a time-lapse sequence, showing a team of people adding make-up and adjusting the hair of the woman. When the final physical adjustments have been made, the team members all move off-camera and the photographer takes shots of the woman in various poses. One shot is selected from the batch and a series of "Photoshopping" adjustments are made to alter the appearance of the model further, including lengthening the neck, adjusting the curve of the shoulder, altering the hair and skin, and enlarging the eyes and mouth. The final image is transferred to a billboard advertisement. The piece fades to the statement, "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted." The film ends with an invitation to take part in the "Dove Real Beauty Workshops", the logo for the Dove Self-Esteem Fund (Dove’s Real Beauty). The promotion, launched in 2006, was on the forefront of a current trend in Western culture to abandon the overly idealized images the media portrays of women.
Dove’s objective was to tell the truth about the advertising media, and how they distort our perception of natural beauty (Dove’s Real Beauty). Showing the before and after image of the woman and the amount of photo manipulation that was done reaffirms my statement that photo manipulation may go to far, crossing the line from improving into altering. To alter the content of a photograph “in any way that deceives the public" is wrong, says the digital manipulation code of ethics of the National Press Photographers Association (Llewelyn 15). Ideally, a photograph is the untouched, un-manipulated image. However, in photography, there is a real conflict between an ideology of unedited truth and the reality of editing (Llewelyn 15). In today’s photographic world there is a great emphasis on scrutinizing photographic images for evidence of manipulation.
As computer technology develops, elements in photographs can more easily be rearranged with undetectable changes. With these alterations comes moral complications in determining standards for manipulation that center on a concept of deception and credibility. Recent developments in computer technology make it possible to easily manipulate a photograph. One can change anything from brightness and contrast control, color correction, adding, moving, or removing objects within the frame as well as many other manipulating techniques. Such uses of photo manipulation have created controversy and discussion about their appropriateness in various settings.
- Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ Is Not The Image Of Transparency.” PR Week. May 19, 2008: 8. Lexis Nexis. Libcat. Ferris State University. 14 April 2009 <www.lexisnexis.com>.
- “Exposed: The Cameras’ White Lies.” Sunday Times (London). June 27, 1999. Lexis Nexis. Libcat. Ferris State University. 14 April 2009
. - Llewelyn, Susan. “Seeing Is No Longer Believing.” Features; Compass. Feb. 01, 2005: 15-18. Lexis Nexis. Libcat. Ferris State University. 14 April 2009 <www.lexisnexis.com>.
- Michels, Christina. “When The Camera Does Lie.” The Times (London). July 20, 2009. Lexis Nexis. Libcat. Ferris State University. 14 April 2009
. - Scanlon, Christopher. “At The Alter Of The Digital Age.” Insight. Sept. 27, 2008: 7. Lexis Nexis. Libcat. Ferris State University. 14 April 2009
. - Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Picador, 1997. Print.
Issue Paper
Argument
Product
Product Photography - Contract Job
Baudville (Grand Rapids, MI)
please note that some images are scanned
It's All In The Smile
When viewing art there are various levels of observation. One can approach the artwork in a very surface manner. In the case of these two portraits, they depict serene women. In order to fully appreciate a deeper revelation, the viewer must investigate the comparative aspects of each painting, individually and in contrast to each other. Possibly the most recognized painting, in the history of art, is the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci. The opposing portrait is that of Magdalena Doni, painted by Raphael Sanzio. In a quick glance they both appear to be quite similar, but in fact there are many contrasting aspects. At the same time, apparently obvious to the viewer, is that the two paintings also compare quite readily. Is the Magdalena Doni an attempt to copy, as it were, the romanticized and renowned qualities that the Mona Lisa possesses? Or is it mere coincidence that they appear so similar? It is the focus of this essay to expose those similarities and differences.
The title Mona Lisa was given to the above painting on the left, not by Leonardo Da Vinci himself, but from a biography of the artist. It depicts Lisa, the wife of an affluent Italian businessman, as the model. The name Mona is short for “my lady” in Italian. The title therefore alludes to “My Lady Lisa.” (“Mona Lisa”) This has been the accepted name for this smiling beauty throughout history. Leonardo initially started working on this portrait in 1503 and finished a few years later. (“Mona Lisa”)
The portrait is of a young women sitting in front of a landscape, positioned at a slight angle to the viewer. Her hands crossed over at the wrists, suggest a natural appearance. There is a slight sense of movement to the top hand. It would appear as if she is in the process of lifting her hand, in an attempt to reach out to the viewer, in a gesture. (“Da Vinci”) She is peering out from the corner of her eyes, in a manner that suggests that she knows something. In conjunction with her enigmatic, mysterious smile, as it has been referred to, it intimates she is thinking. It is as if she holds a secret. (Flemming…) (“Da Vinci”) The overall color palette utilized incorporates dark browns, deep greens, and pale cream and beige hues. The overall impact is very dull and muted. There is a glow to her face as well as highlighting her hands. There is a sense of peace and calmness as she sits on a terrace in front of a background that incorporates a landscape of paths, a bridge and distant mountains. One of the distinct styles of Leonardo Da Vinci, utilized here, is his blurred outlines and use of light and dark contrasts. (“Mona Lisa”) (Flemming…) With her unfathomable smile, the Mona Lisa has become one of the world’s most known paintings.
The Magdalena Doni is one of the many painted portraits by Raphael Sanzio. It contains many of his characteristic traits. His traits include the use of clearly defined lines and a polished, finished appearance. It is unclear as to who the model for this portrait was. There is evidence that she was a widely used model, a Florentine beauty of the Doni family in Italy. (Murphy) (“Raphael…”)
The portrait of Magdalena Doni is of a stately, aristocratic woman peering directly at the viewer. Her right hand sits peacefully on her left wrist. She is adorned with a large necklace and several rings on her fingers. She exudes a sense of nobility about her. In the background are soft rolling hills, with a single, thin and wispy tree standing to her right. The background expresses no intrigue or an ongoing mystery. Her posture has a minor twist to her upper torso. She sits with a rigid posture. The expression on her face holds a slight melancholy downturn to her mouth. It appears as if she is board from modeling and gazes beyond the painter. The colors are bright, bold and rich. There is an air of nobility to her, of which the colors amplify. Her sleeves are painted a deep ultramarine blue. Her corset is that of a red-orange, with deep brown trimmings. She seems to be wrapped in a translucent shawl. The portrait has an overall brightness and her face, neck and upper chest have a creamy, beige, medieval pale quality to it.
There is an immediate, obvious comparison between these two portraits. They both are of women with a similar posture, that of a slightly turned upper torso. They are positioned in front of a landscaped background. Their expressions hold a sense of mystery and hidden, unrevealed emotions. They are both sitting with hands overlapping. The portraits begin from the waist up. Structurally, the portraits form a pyramid shape, the base being their overlapping hands rising to a point at the top of their heads. It would appear as if the Magdalena Doni is to some extent a copy of the Mona Lisa in its immediate comparison. It is noted that Raphael was inspired by Leonard Da Vinci in many ways (“Raphael…”), and this may have been his attempt to capture the notoriety that Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa holds. However, there is no evidence to support that claim.
In a closer examination of the two portraits, there are many contrasting aspects to be revealed. Primarily, the use of intense color in the Magdalena Doni is a distinct difference verses the monotone darkness that the Mona Lisa possesses. Secondly, it appears that the woman portrayed in the Magdalena Doni is of a higher class. Adorned with jewelry, fine clothing and hair styled, she sits with an air of nobility. In contrast to the Magdalena Doni’s stately presence, the Mona Lisa comes across as a women of lesser status. She has no jewelry; her clothing is of an un-noteworthy, drab and dull quality. Mona Lisa seems to be a “plain-Jane.” A major disparity between the two is the obvious facial expression that they are communicating. The Mona Lisa has that now famous mysterious smile, verses the somewhat expressionless quality of the Magdalena Doni. It would appear that there is something going on in the mind of Mona Lisa, where as the Magdalena expresses a blank and featureless reflection. In contrasting the backgrounds employed, it is apparent that the Magdalena Doni sits in front of a bright, blue day lit sky. There is a feeling of cheerfulness, a light heartedness to it. The background in the Mona Lisa expresses a darker, mysterious, dreamlike reality, a somber quality to augment her puzzling smile. The Mona Lisa has a greater sense of depth to the overall mood of the painting. The Magdalena Doni comes across as what it is, a portrait of a wealthy woman. Where as the Mona Lisa appears to have been painted as a way of presenting a philosophical query, not so much a portrait but as a way of stimulating dialogue.
What appears to be at the outset, two similar paintings, in actuality they are two different works of art from two different masters of the same time period, the early 16th century. On the one hand the Mona Lisa has dimensionality of character, a hidden and unresolved certainty. The Magdalena Doni appears to be one dimensional. Her expression has a present quality that makes her believable as a model for the portrait, she is bored. On the other hand the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic facial qualities embrace a dreamlike mysteriousness that is beyond her as a model. It is left up to the viewer to discern what she is contemplating as a person, verses her as a human being, sitting for a portrait, such as is in the case of the Magdalena Doni. These two paintings are a good example of the subtle differences to be found when comparing different pieces of art. What appears on the surface to be similar in fact holds deeper contrasting qualities. That is the joy and beauty of art.
- "Da Vinci." The World Book Encyclopedia. ed. 1990.
- Fleming, John, and Hugh Honour. The Visual Arts: A History. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Inc.
- Murphy, Caroline P. Dictionary of Artists' Models. 509. Google Book Search Beta. Routledge (UK). 30 Nov 2005
- "Raphael Sanzio of Urbino." VIA ARTS. 30 Nov. 2005.
Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci
Portrait Of Maddalena Doni by Raffaello Sanzio
Research Paper
Compare/Contrast
Seeing Through One Man's Lens
A pianist, environmentalist and writer as well as a renowned photographer, Ansel Adams had many skills and talents. He is most commonly known for his black and white photographs of Yosemite National Park. When viewing Adams’ photographs an overwhelming sense of appreciation of the natural beauty of the world around us arises. Adams is considered to be a visionary in nature photography. As a child growing up in San Francisco Adams always had an affinity for nature. His attraction to photography did not come until his later teen years, after visiting Yosemite National Park at the age of fourteen. Adams’ interest in photography grew over the years and eventually made him one of the most renowned and famous nature photographers. (Turnage) (About…Adams) Ansel Adams has many notable works but one photograph stands out among the rest. Titled “Moon and Half Dome” Adams’ encompasses the true beauty and splendor of nature in this one photograph. As quoted by Adams:
“The great rocks of Yosemite, expressing qualities of timeless, yet intimate grandeur, are the most compelling formations of their kind. We should not casually pass them by for they are the very heart of the earth speaking to us.” (Yosemite…Adams)
Ansel Adams is a distinguished photographer, his life is filled with a rich history and his photographs are magnificent. Ansel Adams’ life, even as a child was filled with life altering events, that shaped him into what he became. Ansel Easton Adams was born on February 20, 1902, to Charles and Olive Adams, a wealthy business family. At the age of four, an aftershock from an earthquake shook their San Francisco home causing young Adams to fall face first into a wall, resulting in a broken nose. After that incident, Adams was left with his trademark “crooked nose.” (Ansel Adams) Later in that same year, the Adams family fortune collapsed. This would have a major effect on Adams’ outlook and views on life. His father could not gain back the losses of the Adams’ fortune, leaving an insecure, and impression on Ansel. Adams would now look at life with a shy, calm, private, and independent attitude, different from any child at that time. This attitude change left Adams with the inability to “fit in” in school. His parents made the decision to pull Ansel out of school and tutor him at home. If not for the home schooling, Adams would have never found his love of nature. He could be seen taking a walk almost everyday along the beaches and creeks near his home, after his studies. (Turnage) Adams’ love of nature would have a major impact in his life.
When Adams was twelve he taught himself how to play the piano. Soon after he began taking lessons and pursed music as his main career. It was not until at trip to Yosemite that Ansel gave up his career goal of a pianist. (Turnage) This trip to Yosemite was the defining moment in Adams’ life. With his father’s Kodak Brownie box camera and the beautiful, majestic scenery around him, Adams began capturing the unforgettable images that are appreciated today. Photography became his number one goal and hobby. From that point on photography was the major part in Adams’ life. (A Life’s Work) In his late teen years Adams joined a group dedicated to preserving the world’s environments. It was his dream to conserve the earth’s natural wonders and beauties. This group became known as Sierra Club. Because of Adams’, dedication it still exists today. The Sierra Club added to Adams’ success. Many of his photographs and writings have been published in the club’s bulletin. (Ansel Adams) In April of 1984 Adams died of heart failure. A peak in Yosemite is named in his honor. An appropriate acknowledgment of Adams’ love of nature’s grandeur and his avocation. (A Life’s Work) Ansel Adams was and still is considered a remarkable man and a wonderful and highly appreciated photographer.
The photograph that Ansel Adams is most known for and exemplifies his work the best is “Moon and Half Dome.” This photograph was taken in 1960 at Yosemite National Park. (Yosemite…Adams) The photograph is of a large, mammoth, single, solid rock. The rock appears to have been split in two leaving a clean face. The top has a dome shaped quality. To the left of the rock a large, weathered fractured schism. On the face of the large rock there are vertical striations with a major cracking etched across the middle region of the rock. Based on the size of evergreen trees at the footing it appears to be as earlier stated a “huge” rock face mountain. In the upper region of the photograph appears the moon, in the final stages of becoming full. Lastly, directly across facing Half Dome is a very dark, shadowed rock face rising from the same floor ground as Half Dome. It appears that its shadow is cast onto Half Dome. Finally, on the top peak of the dome there is snow intermittently dispersed, as there is on the forest floor below.
Emotionally the picture strikes me as cold, stark and distant. This is brought out especially by the distance of the moon in the background. This image could be a moonscape image in itself. In Adams’ minds eye he saw a similarity between the moon’s distance, gray muddled surface and primarily the silence that the mountain’s face evokes. The image is ominous and is to some degree threatening. The mountain like the moon is very unapproachable; it is beyond one’s grasp. It emanates a graphic sense of the power of nature. Even something as solid appearing as Half Dome and for that matter the moon, overtime is wearing away and in fact is not solid. This realization is akin to the trauma Adams faced as a child. The financial reality of his family broke apart, leaving him exposed and vulnerable to social elements. From that point on he felt alienated.
Even though Ansel Adams has past on, his work lives on and is viewed by many. It can be seen in museums, one in particular is the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. His works have been published and can be found in the Sierra Club Bulletin, magazines, and even in brochures at Yosemite National Park. Just because Adams is not with us there is no reason to stop showing or seeing the majestic scenery that he has captured.
Ansel Adams played an important and pivotal role in the development and popularity of nature photography. Throughout his life he faced many altering incidences, but ultimately all was for the best. Without those challenges, the world might never have seen the magnificent photographs that he has produced, such as the recognized “Moon and Half Dome” for which he is most known for. His photographs continue to inspire not only photographers but environmentalist as well. He is one of America’s treasures.
- "About Ansel Adams." Sierra Club. 16 Oct. 2005.
- "Ansel Adams - Environmentalist, Artist, Photographer, and American Icon: A Life's Work." Apogee Photo Magazine. 16 Oct. 2005.
- "Ansel Adams." Wikipedia. 16 Oct. 2005.
- Turnage, William A. “Ansel Adams, Photographer.” The Ansel Adams Gallery. 18 Oct. 2005
- Yosemite Ansel Adams. 1st ed. Boston, New York, London: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.
Moon and Half Dome by Ansel Adams
Informative
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